I think a good number of the responses here are from 0Ls, as is this one.

I think you will get sick of the North East very quickly coming from L.A. My sig-o and I relocated from L.A. up there for a while so I could take a job. I am from that part of the world and knew what to expect. She always thought snow was "pretty" and was game for the adventure. After one winter up there she doesn't want to ever live there again. YMMV.

Geography and weather aside, the definite best option for you is USC, clearly. USC is highly regarded in SoCal, and spending your law school years in the area will help you network.

The following is not merely 0L advice, but advice from someone with years in the "real world" prior to pursuing law school: jobs (at least well paying ones) will often present themselves in locations where the location is a secondary consideration to the type of job being offered and compensation. What this means is if you go to school in Boston you may very well wind up taking a job wherever you can find one. Navigating your way back to Southern California may prove difficult, for the reasons that have already been covered ITT (proximity and networking, degree portability, bar issues, etc).

Stay in sunny SoCal. Go to the higher ranked school with a strong reputation in your stated desired market. Live in somewhere other than South L.A. and put on your blinders between home and campus. Take a vacation to Boston or NYC this summer and make the most of your time, all the while realizing you are there on vacation and not really living "real life." Go again for a week or two over your winter break, preferably during some really miserable weather, to witness the bullet you just dodged. Your welcome.

when do those who applied in the 2012-2013 cycle stop being 0L's and start being 1L's? When we sign our lease? when we move in? when we start orientation? when we start our first class? when we take our first exam? when we graduate law school?

jbagelboy wrote:when do those who applied in the 2012-2013 cycle stop being 0L's and start being 1L's? When we sign our lease? when we move in? when we start orientation? when we start our first class? when we take our first exam? when we graduate law school?

Even by a conservative definition, I'll be a 1L in 53 days.

Interesting question. I especially like the last option (when we graduate law school lol).

I suppose I will consider myself a 1L once I am sitting in my first scheduled class for credit.

jbagelboy wrote:when do those who applied in the 2012-2013 cycle stop being 0L's and start being 1L's? When we sign our lease? when we move in? when we start orientation? when we start our first class? when we take our first exam? when we graduate law school?

Even by a conservative definition, I'll be a 1L in 53 days.

Interesting question. I especially like the last option (when we graduate law school lol).

I suppose I will consider myself a 1L once I am sitting in my first scheduled class for credit.

it's actually the most arbitrary. in less than 2 months, we'll be giving our n00b 1L advice and passing it off as the word of god (despite the fact that nothing we are saying will change in-between now and then), and ironically enough, much of it will be directed towards many of the kids who applied in the same cycle as us (and even some from 2011), who we whined with about off campus interviews, status checker errors, and when our NCE/VCE's would arrive, but who retook/reapplied, but this time, with an air of entirely undeserved confidence and bravado. the whole "0L v 1L" advice thing is biggest flame on TLS

I had this problem a few years ago. Emotionally committed to BU, got in off the waitlist elsewhere, but had already started imaging a life in Boston and couldn't switch. There was a reason I preferred the other school and stayed on the waitlist, and I regret my choice to not take that acceptance every day. Don't make my mistake. Go to USC.

jbagelboy wrote: it's actually the most arbitrary. in less than 2 months, we'll be giving our n00b 1L advice and passing it off as the word of god (despite the fact that nothing we are saying will change in-between now and then), and ironically enough, much of it will be directed towards many of the kids who applied in the same cycle as us (and even some from 2011), who we whined with about off campus interviews, status checker errors, and when our NCE/VCE's would arrive, but who retook/reapplied, but this time, with an air of entirely undeserved confidence and bravado. the whole "0L v 1L" advice thing is biggest flame on TLS

At orientation, every accredited school reveals a book of secrets, guiding all law students to truth, on which 1Ls are sworn to silence. As much as they'd like to, it's perfectly understandable that 1Ls can't ever use facts in their arguments and must simply inform the unelightened 0Ls that they are wrong for reasons they couldn't possibly understand.

jbagelboy wrote: it's actually the most arbitrary. in less than 2 months, we'll be giving our n00b 1L advice and passing it off as the word of god (despite the fact that nothing we are saying will change in-between now and then), and ironically enough, much of it will be directed towards many of the kids who applied in the same cycle as us (and even some from 2011), who we whined with about off campus interviews, status checker errors, and when our NCE/VCE's would arrive, but who retook/reapplied, but this time, with an air of entirely undeserved confidence and bravado. the whole "0L v 1L" advice thing is biggest flame on TLS

At orientation, every accredited school reveals a book of secrets, guiding all law students to truth, on which 1Ls are sworn to silence. As much as they'd like to, it's perfectly understandable that 1Ls can't ever use facts in their arguments and must simply inform the unelightened 0Ls that they are wrong for reasons they couldn't possibly understand.

These schools are basically identical. USC/UCLA is the BC/BU of the west coast. If you ultimately want to work in Cali, go with USC. If you want to work in New York or Boston, go with BC. If you don't really care, go with whichever is cheapest.

If you seriously want to go into state or local gov, you should really focus on keeping your debt to an absolute minimum.

If you want to work as a DA I would go to whatever is cheapest. Maybe even a TTT. You will get paid less than a police officer, and work like a slave. There is so much turnover at DA offices it is like the legal market's McDonald's. Best of luck either way.

jdmonkey wrote:If you want to work as a DA I would go to whatever is cheapest. Maybe even a TTT. You will get paid less than a police officer, and work like a slave. There is so much turnover at DA offices it is like the legal market's McDonald's. Best of luck either way.

Not true. DA positions are really competitive and pay decent (like 50k) and people hold on to jobs that are pslf eligible.

Of course, you should be keeping debt down for a public service type job like that, but don't think you can go to a TTT and get a DA job in a competitive market.

jdmonkey wrote:If you want to work as a DA I would go to whatever is cheapest. Maybe even a TTT. You will get paid less than a police officer, and work like a slave. There is so much turnover at DA offices it is like the legal market's McDonald's. Best of luck either way.

Not true. DA positions are really competitive and pay decent (like 50k) and people hold on to jobs that are pslf eligible.

Of course, you should be keeping debt down for a public service type job like that, but don't think you can go to a TTT and get a DA job in a competitive market.

OK I guess it depends where you live. I have been told by some ADA's that I socialize with from work that they make less than a starting state trooper. Also I looked up all the county attorneys (who try felony cases) for my county and only one went to a top 100 law school. However maybe it is different in bigger cities.

jdmonkey wrote:If you want to work as a DA I would go to whatever is cheapest. Maybe even a TTT. You will get paid less than a police officer, and work like a slave. There is so much turnover at DA offices it is like the legal market's McDonald's. Best of luck either way.

Not true. DA positions are really competitive and pay decent (like 50k) and people hold on to jobs that are pslf eligible.

Of course, you should be keeping debt down for a public service type job like that, but don't think you can go to a TTT and get a DA job in a competitive market.

OK I guess it depends where you live. I have been told by some ADA's that I socialize with from work that they make less than a starting state trooper. Also I looked up all the county attorneys (who try felony cases) for my county and only one went to a top 100 law school. However maybe it is different in bigger cities.

Not to derail the thread, but an ADA in SF starts at $90k or so. DA's offices in places like Manhattan (which has it's own DA's office), Chicago, LA, and SF are intensely competitive. Jobs there are probably harder to get than BigLaw.